VOL. XLIX. NO. 2103. 
NEW YORK, MAY i 7 , i 89 o. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$ 3.00 PER YEAR, 
NO DRAINAGE, NO HAY. 
T HE picture (Fig. 97) shows the result of want of 
drainage; the crop is oats, but the camera failed 
to give a good idea of the contrast between wet and dry 
ground because i,t does not show the difference in the color 
of the vegetation, much of which on the wet ground con¬ 
sists of wild gras es which in the picture look like the oats. 
At harvest there was no oat crop whatever on the wet 
ground, and tne loss from lack of drainage was not only 
that of the crop, but also of the seed as well as of the labor 
and time in plowing, harrowing, rolling and drilling. 
This field of 16 acres had been drained with stone drains 
which became choked up and were taken up and re-laid 
before the oats were drilled; but the subsoil being of a 
very impervious character and the season remarkably wet, 
the drains had not 
much, if any, effect -—’. -— 
on the oat crop. t 
There is no doubt 
that there are thous¬ 
ands of acres of farm 
lands that are farmed 
at a heavy loss owing 
to want of drainage. 
I have many wet a^:es 
myself and inters ■ to 
reduce the numb^as 
fast as I can by drain¬ 
ing, as the hope that 
here and there, and in certain favorable seasons these spots 
do not give much bother. If the wet ground were all in 
one body, then it would simply be a question of thorough 
draining or of letting the land lie idle; but when there is 
a wet spot in the middle of a field, the great cost of getting 
an outlet deters many from attempting to drain it. It is 
true that all land needing drainage is farmed at a loss, 
and it is just as true that a wise man would hesitate, in 
these times of depression, to go into debt for tile and labor 
to drain his wet spots. But, with the exception of the wet 
spots in fields otherwise dry, it is better to let wet land lie 
idle than to cultivate it in the hope of making a profit. 
A. L. CROSBY. 
Note. —As the R. N.-Y. stated some months ago, the 
wet seasons of the past few years have started a boom 
. 
- 
‘this” season will 
just suit wet land is 
as fallacious as that 
of expecting to grow 
a good crop without 
feeding it. But farm¬ 
ers are sanguine as a 
class, and we so often 
allow “I guess that 
will do” to takef he 
place of “ I knowt iat 
is right,” and we ^lso 
are very apt to expect 
that “something will 
turn up,” when our 
past experience has 
proved conclusively 
that nothing ever 
does turn up—unless 
we turn it. So many 
wet fields are planted 
every year, the plant¬ 
er hoping against 
hope that the season 
will suit the soil, when 
the right way wou^d 
be to make the s’ »il 
suit all seasons so jar 
as mechanical comfi- 
tion goes, and if, n 
addition, we manure 
and cultivate it well 
it is seldom that we 
miss a crop. But sup¬ 
pose every farmer 
should thoroughly 
drain, cultivate and 
manure every acre he plants, would not the result be a 
glutted market for all farm crops ? ” It certainly would • 
but that danger is so remote that it need make no one 
anxious, because every farmer will not do any such sensi¬ 
ble thing, and as proof I cite myself, who will to-morrow 
weather permitting—finish planting with corn a 20-acre 
field, one side of which needs draining badly. “ Why don’t 
you drain it ? ” Well, you see it is a long field (500 yards) 
and the part needing draining will not average a rod 
wide for the whole length and 1 haven’t the time to attend 
to it, and, besides, last season was very wet and I think 
maybe this season will just suit that wet strip. You see 
how it works ? 
But there are a few farmers who do drain their land and 
manure and cultivate it on the “I-know-that-is-right” 
principle; these few are not complaining so much about 
the hard times; they are holding their own, and if times 
ever get good they are the men who will make money. 
At present, it requires considi rable pocket nerve to drain 
land; as a rule, a whole field is not wet, but only spots 
EFFECTS OF POOR DRAINAGE. From a Photograph. Figure 
in drainage. Those who invest in tiles as an aid in 
wet seasons will find that they are almost equally invalu¬ 
able in dry ones. 
MEDICINE FOR SICK LAND. 
Here we have a question from a Michigan subscriber. 
Thousands of men throughout the country could truth¬ 
fully describe such land. Is it economy to “abandon” 
it or should we get closer to it ? 
I have succeeded my father in the position of overseer of 
a large farm owned by a wealthy gentleman who is im¬ 
mersed in business. He wishes, as far as possible, to avoid 
investing money in the farm, because, instead of being a 
source of income, it is a cause of loss. It consists of 520 
acres, only about half of which is improved. The soil is 
gravelly and full of cobble-stones. The principal crop is 
hay, which is sold at Grand Rapids, 12 miles distant, for 
from 5-10 to *13 per ton—if nearly clear Timothy—and for 
what we can get if it is clover. We also pasture as many 
horses as we can get in summer and feed horses in winter. 
vV e keep no more cows than will supply us with butter, as 
dairying does not pay. We cut our meadows until they 
run out and then rent them to farmers for a corn crop, or 
for rye, seeding again as soon as possible. I have experi¬ 
mented considerably with commercial fertilizers, using as 
much as 15 tons in a season; but can see no appreciable 
effect from an application of 250 to 300 pounds per acre, 
and think it would be only throwing money away to put 
on more. Our hay averages, one year with another, prob¬ 
ably less than one ton per acre. This includes 15 or 20 
acres too low and wet to produce tame hay profitably. We 
partially use the unimproved portion of the farm as pas¬ 
ture. How can I make the farm pay interest, taxes and 
expenses ? This is the problem set before me. I hope and 
believe I shall receive 
aid from the Rural 
New-Yorker. 
ANSWERED BY PROF. 
I. P. ROBERTS. 
The writer of the 
above, it is evident, 
is seeking after 
knowledge in a busi¬ 
ness way to aid him 
in solving a difficuly 
question—one thac 
many another farmer 
is wrestling with, and 
one that will not 
“down” until it is 
solved. All the facts 
necessary to a com¬ 
plete understanding 
of the conditions are 
not present, such as 
the price the land is 
held at. With the 
small margins now 
found in farming, an 
excessive interest 
charge may obliterate 
all profits. Most of 
our farms are in the 
condition of some of 
our railroads—the 
stock has been 
watered. The select 
few in a little office 
fixed the capitaliza¬ 
tion of railroads so 
that they would ap¬ 
pear to be earning 
less than interest on 
costs. The war and 
the abnormal build¬ 
ing of railroads, 
which opened up 
lands for cultivation 
too rapidly for the in¬ 
crease of population, 
and many other 
causes have placed 
the farms in the same 
conditions. If the 
farm under consideration—one-half of which is unproduc¬ 
tive—is valued at from $30 to $50 per acre, how can it stand 
the competition with lands which are equally good which 
can be purchased for from $5 to $8 per acre ? and these, too, 
are lying along the lines of the great trunk railroads. 
Suppose the case under consideration is diagnosed: 
Gravelly soil, full of cobble-stones; too little vegetable 
mold, frequently suffers for want of moisture; on account 
of its mechanical condition the olant food leaches away 
and the yield is seriously diminished. Hay carted 12 miles 
at a cost of from $3 to $6 per ton for baling and delivery. 
Clover hay sold for what it will bring. Poorer lands pas¬ 
tured in summer and the fertilizing elements removed to 
increase live weight, taken off the farm. Meadows 
“ run out ” and further depleted of their fertility by tak¬ 
ing off of them crops of corn. Commercial fertilizers 
tried and found not to pay. Mowing lands yield less 
than one ton per acre. A deficit instead of a profit after 
interest, taxes and expenses are deducted from receipts. 
This case is not a new or unusual one. Success is often 
97. 
